Men's Basketball Falls to Whitman 74-71

WALLA WALLA, Wash. - The Lewis & Clark men's basketball team could not hold off the Whitman Missionaries on Saturday night, despite getting a season high 24 points from senior Dexter Pearce. The Missionaries came from behind to defeat the Pioneers 74-71.

The Pioneers fall to 13-8 on the season and 7-5 in Northwest Conference action. The Missionaries improve to 14-7 overall and 8-4 in the NWC. The loss drops the Pioneers to fourth in the conference standings, while the Missionaries move into a two-way tie for second in the NWC.

Ben Eisenhardt led all players with 25 points. Josh Duckworth netted 11 points for the Missionaries.

The Pioneers cruised ahead to a 13-3 over the opening seven minutes, capping off the run with a dunk by Pearce. The team took its largest lead with 8:22 to go until halftime after back-to-back Pearce free-throws. Lewis & Clark maintained a double-digit lead heading into the locker at halftime.

Lewis & Clark kept Whitman at bay until the final six minutes of the game when the Missionaries tied the game at 66 all. An Eisenhardt free-throw gave the Missionaries the lead, which they would hold onto throughout the final four minutes of action.